Building a Community

[Valka]

I've begun to climb out of the blahs recently, and I wonder if the membership would like to bring up any projects beneficial to the forum for when I have enough energy to take a few on.

Right now, the only thing that jumps out at me as needing doing is editing the Beginners' Getting-Started Strategy Guide for Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri / Alien Crossfire into a short .pdf.  The idea for that project, frankly, is click-bait to promote the forum.

Any other ideas?  It doesn't have to be strictly promotional - what's good for the community is good for it...

The guide sounds like an excellent idea. I finally have both SMAC and a computer capable of playing it, and although I've played Civ for many years, I never got farther than Civ II.

For the forum... I'd love to be able to access my photo album from the Enterprise and Astronomy themes. I added the link to my quick links menu, but can't count on that remaining stable.

Can non-members see our albums if given a link?

[Buster's Uncle]

I was just able to browse your album as a lurker in the Great Satan, Firefox...

[Valka]

So if I were to add the link to my album in my sig at other forums, it might bring more traffic here? (which is my other point besides the vanity of wanting people to enjoy the lolpics I make) 

[Buster's Uncle]

It just might - search engines notice that sort of thing even if no one else does, and good search engine ranking is the best tool we can have for growing the community.  Spreading the URL around matters.

[Buster's Uncle]

Here's the long version of the guide, BTW: http://alphacentauri2.info/SMACX%20Beginners'%20Guide/Beginners'%20Getting-Started%20Strategy%20Guide%20for%20Sid%20Meier's%20Alpha%20Centauri-Alien%20Crossfire.html

[Buster's Uncle]

https://www.facebook.com/AlphaCentauri2Forum/

Most people anymore -even ones like me who actively dislike it- have Facebook accounts, God help 'em.

Well, I have stupid Facebook open in a tab all the time, because I promote AC2 a lot there (and it's also the quickest/best way to contact sisko and t_ras).  -And I've managed to draw lots of eyes lately, with interest high in the new Atlas/SMACX image -I guess just because it's neat- scient's SMACX v2.0 Analysis Code DataBase, the new archive of the old Alpha.owo forum and currently, the new SMACX Resource Center that serves as a master index to this and that non-forum AC resource we host.  (Almost time to start pushing something else.)

-And naturally, I'm promoting us as a source for Civ6 news - it's off-mission for this forum, but I've kept a SMACX item pinned at the top of the page to keep things right, and 6, good or bad, should tend to draw Our Kind of People- and when I posted 17 AC2 links in short order on the 24th, most of them 6 stuff, I threw in some other items, like a post in the Star Trek thread about the new official fanfilm guidelines -and most of it, 6 or not, averaged two views apiece. -Except for a science article someone known to me as an AC2 regular 'like'd, and which got 26 'people reached'.

Now, that last is why I write.  I ask you, beg you, really, to 'like' the AC2 page so you'll see it on your timeline when a new item is posted/linked -hopefully, your 'friends', too- and be in the habit of being generous with your 'like's and shares when you're on - it can make a huge difference in helping the hard work of spending time on stupid Facebook posting things to promote our community and get the word out to Our Kind of People.  This is true even if your entire 'friends' list is your mundane elderly relatives who don't game; it's still links spread on Facebook, one of those few sites that's pretty universal - liking and sharing there makes it that much more likely that that 4x gamer who never found our fan community will now, because of you, and it helps raise our search engine ranking.

Please.  My brother used to be part of a military reenactment unit that had the slogan "No problem can't be solved by recruiting MORE MEMBERS!" - which is hogwash, but not entirely wrong or a bad attitude to take for the longevity of the group.  -You can pitch in simply by following our page, and with an occasional press of a button when you're on Facebook...

[Valka]

Well, I just found out that somebody in Poland tried to hack my FB account. They didn't get in, but my account was locked. I got back in, and clicked "like"... not sure if it was for the right thing, as it seems as if everything under the sun has a "like" link on that site.

I'm sure the non-computer gamers on my friends list (which would be something like 99% of them) won't have a clue what this is about.

[Buster's Uncle]

It's a great help.  The 'like' button for the page itself is at the bottom of the page background picture -Space Atlas at the top- between Sign up and Message.  You can see it in the screenie I posted, only I already 'like'd it.

[Buster's Uncle]

https://www.facebook.com/AlphaCentauri2Forum/

Most people anymore -even ones like me who actively dislike it- have Facebook accounts, God help 'em.

Well, I have stupid Facebook open in a tab all the time, because I promote AC2 a lot there (and it's also the quickest/best way to contact sisko and t_ras).  -And I've managed to draw lots of eyes lately, with interest high in the new Atlas/SMACX image -I guess just because it's neat- scient's SMACX v2.0 Analysis Code DataBase, the new archive of the old Alpha.owo forum and currently, the new SMACX Resource Center that serves as a master index to this and that non-forum AC resource we host.  (Almost time to start pushing something else.)

-And naturally, I'm promoting us as a source for Civ6 news - it's off-mission for this forum, but I've kept a SMACX item pinned at the top of the page to keep things right, and 6, good or bad, should tend to draw Our Kind of People- and when I posted 17 AC2 links in short order on the 24th, most of them 6 stuff, I threw in some other items, like a post in the Star Trek thread about the new official fanfilm guidelines -and most of it, 6 or not, averaged two views apiece. -Except for a science article someone known to me as an AC2 regular 'like'd, and which got 26 'people reached'.

Now, that last is why I write.  I ask you, beg you, really, to 'like' the AC2 page so you'll see it on your timeline when a new item is posted/linked -hopefully, your 'friends', too- and be in the habit of being generous with your 'like's and shares when you're on - it can make a huge difference in helping the hard work of spending time on stupid Facebook posting things to promote our community and get the word out to Our Kind of People.  This is true even if your entire 'friends' list is your mundane elderly relatives who don't game; it's still links spread on Facebook, one of those few sites that's pretty universal - liking and sharing there makes it that much more likely that that 4x gamer who never found our fan community will now, because of you, and it helps raise our search engine ranking.

Please.  My brother used to be part of a military reenactment unit that had the slogan "No problem can't be solved by recruiting MORE MEMBERS!" - which is hogwash, but not entirely wrong or a bad attitude to take for the longevity of the group.  -You can pitch in simply by following our page, and with an occasional press of a button when you're on Facebook...

Two members were kind enough to quickly go onto th' Book and 'like' the pinned SMACX item, one of them shared, and I'm grateful for the cooperation -like the page itself, remember- anyone else game?

[terzaerian]

Here's my two cents as an until-recently outside observer in terms of the goals for this thread and forum:

-In terms of attracting new users: Google, Google, Google. It may seem trite but search engine visibility really is the difference, I think, between success and oblivion these days for our humble message boards in current year 2016. I have good news on that front, however: you're doing an outstanding job! I became aware of this place due to the dozens of searches I've done related to modding Alpha Centauri and looking up information on game mechanics and the like, and it consistently ranks in the top searches on that topic. So basically, keep up what you have been doing on that front, because it's working!
-In terms of social media: having a Facebook group is alright, but it is also a very general-interest platform. It might be a good idea to start a Steam group as well - as SMAC has ever been a classic of PC gaming, and Steam is one of the leading distribution platforms for the PC in the present day. There is a lot more "demographic synergy" you might say, on Steam versus Facebook. Steam also gives you the opportunity to do more effective targeted recruitment, as it can be easy to identify Alpha Centauri superfans on the platform; they'll often go out of their way to join SMAC-related groups, or use avatars or profile modifications that identify them as such. I don't know if GoG has an equivalent social media system like Steam does but establishing some kind of presence there would be doubly invaluable, seeing as it is, as far as I know, the only source where SMAC can still be (well, legally) downloaded.
-The Wiki: I certainly have to extend my gratitude to the managers and contributors to the AC2 Wiki, as it's been an invaluable resource for me. There are certainly some tweaks that would help out a lot, though. The name "AC2 Wiki" was initially a bit confusing to me, as an uninformed outsider; I was initially under the impression that that meant it was for a mod of another game entirely, or for some drastic alteration of SMAC, and only after continued encounters and use did I realize it was still a resource dealing with the core game, and that AC2 is a reference to the community's history. Streamlining the "branding" to something like "SMAC Wiki" or "Planetpedia," basically something to drive home that it's an information resource for SMAC first and foremost but that it also includes fan content, etc. Secondly, greater synergy between the rest of the site and the Wiki. For example, I ended up browsing the pages on the Wiki for custom factions for some time before finding the download center. Finally, some tweaks to the style sheet. It doesn't have to be anything as elaborate as the forum themes, for example, but just a simple tweak - say, changing the background to a dark grey and the text to cyan - would be evocative of SMAC's visual style and enhance the user experience over the default wiki style.

[Buster's Uncle]

The "AC2 Wiki" logo was a branding attempt after we got a report from a new member who'd been using it for year without knowing there was a forum community hosting it.  I guess I should repost w/o the "2", from what you say.

Steam - we'd be interested, but I don't do Steam and ain't going to...  It would need a volunteer...

[Spacy]

Hey BUnckle,

I keep getting error messages saying that I am on an unsecured site, and that half the time I am about to leave the site for a known hacked site....

[Buster's Uncle]

?

I'll pass that along to our tech doodz...

[t_ras]

When do you get it does messages?

[Spacy]

Let me see if I can get some screen shots